The Proposal

Scene One

(Setting: A man and a woman, clearly together, are at dinner in a fancy restaurant. They are sitting across from each other, holding hands on the table. The man withdraws his hand from the attachment, sticking it in his pocket and takes out a piece of paper.)

JOHN: I wrote you a poem, but I hope you don't think it's clichÐ"©. I know how you're not into all that passÐ"© type of stuff.

CHLOE: Aw! John, that's so sweet of you. And I don't think anything you write could be clichÐ"©.

JOHN: I'll read it to you, if you'd prefer that to just reading it yourself. I guess it might add a sort of romantic element to the whole situation.

CHLOE: That'd be good, I would really like it.

JOHN: (taking a deep breath) The read rose screams of passion,

And the white rose whispers of love,

The red rose is a falcon,

And the white rose is a dove.

But I give you a cream colored rose bud,

With a flush on its petal tips, for the love that is purest and sweetest, Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

(John produces a small box from his pocket and swallows hard. Opening it so the ring is facing Chloe, John adverts his eyes from the piece of paper in front of him to the ring and his girlfriend.)

JOHN: Will you marry me, Chloe McKinney?

CHLOE: (awestruck) Can you excuse me for a second? (exits before John can answer)

Scene Two

(Setting: Chloe is peering into the mirror in the bathroom, tears streaming down her cheeks. She is trying to fix her makeup, but to no avail. )

CHLOE: (speaking to audience) IÐ'...I don't know if John is the man for me. I mean, there's no denying he's a great guyÐ'...

(Setting: Back in the restaurant, John is speaking to audience while Chloe is still in the bathroom.)

JOHN: (speaking to audience, stage left) She's a great girl.

CHLOE: (stage right, STA) But I don't know if I want to marry him. I'm only thirty years old.

JOHN: (SL, STA) She's thirty, I'm thirty three. The timing couldn't be any better, it really couldn't. She's the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with. We need to get married. It's the only way I can ensure that.

CHLOE: (SR, STA) I don't think I want to spend the rest of my life with him, you know? But I'm not sure. (pauses, blots eyes with tissue) He's really not what I would consider my type.

JOHN: